Top American Jewish Official: Middle Eastern Leaders Relieved to See Obama Go, Want US to Take Tougher Line Against Iran

Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

Middle Eastern leaders are looking for the Trump administration to re-engage with the region and take a tougher line against Iran, a top American Jewish official told The Algemeiner this week.

Malcolm Hoenlein — the executive vice chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations — recently returned to the US from a trip that included stops in Israel, Egypt, Morocco and Cyprus. “What we heard in all the countries was a sense of relief over the change of administrations and anticipation about what the new administration will be, who will be in it, what they will do and how they will govern,” he said. “There is a feeling that America is back in the game. But there is also some anxiety and uncertainty.”

Israeli officials, according to Hoenlein, are “hopeful” about President Donald Trump.

“They all recognize that it’s still early, but the relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the president at their meeting [in February] was good,” Hoenlein said. “Ambassador Nikki Haley has been very strong at the UN responding to attacks on Israel. And the president also protected aid to Israel in the face of major budget cuts.”

Israel’s major worries at the moment, Hoenlein stated, are the ongoing conflict in Syria and instability in Jordan.

“If there is a ceasefire in Syria, will Iran have a permanent place there?” Hoenlein asked.

Another issue bothering Israeli officials is “what is happening in Lebanon and, even more so, the incursions and encroachments in the Golan area by Hezbollah and Iran-backed militia groups who are today very active and have gotten closer to the area. They are a threat to both Jordan and Israel, and the region. I think the prime minister has sent a message to keep them away or Israel is going to react.”

Hoenlein made sure to praise UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for recently speaking out against Hezbollah.

“There was an incredible statement by the secretary-general which got very little attention but was very important,” Hoenlein said. “He condemned Hezbollah’s activities in Lebanon and said they were a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 that was adopted after the Second Lebanon War. It was a very tough statement citing their weapons buildup as a further violation and criticized the encroachment on Lebanese sovereignty.”

Reports that the Islamic Republic is seeking to build a military base at the Syrian port of Latakia on the Mediterranean Sea should “be of concern to everybody,” Hoenlein said, noting that such a facility could be used as a launching point for further subversive Iranian activities in the region.

Hoenlein hypothesized that the Iranian Navy’s harassment of the USS Invincible — an American surveillance vessel — in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month was connected with missile tests conducted by the Tehran regime.

“I think that the reason the Iranians were playing havoc with our ship was because it’s able to monitor …read more

Rashi in Parashas Vayeitzei tells us that when a tzaddik dwells in a town, he is its glory, its beauty, its grandeur.

Naflah ateres rosheinu—the crown of our heads has fallen. One of the tzaddikim of the Five Towns/Far Rockaway community, Rav Ahron Brafman, zt’l, was definitely all of that and more. He was a tzaddik in every sense of the word.

The Five Towns/Far Rockaway community is a different place now that he has passed away. It is a community that was visibly changed by his presence here for close to five decades.

He was one of those rare individuals who combined profound erudition in his Torah knowledge, deep humility in his character and deportment, and a heart whose remarkable compassion for others knew no bounds.

Even as a young man, he had a warmth that was unbelievable. Reb Ahron would be welcoming to other young men—even as a student. Rav Yeruchem Olshin, shlita, one of the four roshei yeshiva of Beis Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, fondly remembers Rav Ahron being mekarev him at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath:

At YFR Kinus Teshuvah: Michael Spiegel, host; Rabbi Yechiel Perr, rosh ha’yeshiva;and Rabbi Ahron Brafman, menahel“Rav Ahron was a special person. This is a tremendous loss. He had a ruach taharah. He was such a warm person. I was learning in a different yeshiva in Boro Park and that yeshiva unfortunately closed, so I transferred to yeshiva Torah Vodaath, and I knew no one. Rav Ahron befriended me and took good care of me. Over the years, I kept up with him. Rav Ahron was a tremendous talmid chacham with vast and broad yedios. He has a teyereh mishpacha. I was zocheh to be the shadchan of one of his daughters. I am close with his son and his other aidim (sons-in-law).”

Rabbi Yechiel Perr, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Derech Ayson–Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, spoke at the funeral in Eretz Yisrael. He spoke of Rabbi Brafman’s genuineness of character, saying that he had no airs and no “shtik.”

Menashe is a good and simple man. But even according to his fictional family members, while he might be a pious man, he is first and foremost a “schlemazal.”

The new film Menashe is showing in movie theaters in or near Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, as well as the Malverne Theater in nearby Malverne, New York, a short distance from the Five Towns.

The first matter of interest is why this film was made in the first place. It is certainly a fascinating look into an otherwise private and insulated community that does not necessarily appreciate having the light of day cast on the intimate details of its everyday routines.

Menashe is just an average chassidic man who lives simply, dresses in traditional chassidic garb (white shirt, black vest, etc.), and is dealing with everyday struggles that many people deal with regardless of how they identify in terms of religion or any other type of lifestyle affiliation. That he is a chassidic man is an eye-opener of sorts, as the suspicion might exist that worldly problems have not yet figured out a way to penetrate our community. They certainly have.

Menashe is a widower; his wife apparently passed away at a young age. They had one child who in the movie is now about ten years old. The child’s rebbe believes the boy should live with his wife’s brother and his family because of the more conventional family structure. Balance of this essay can be read at 5TJT.COM ... See MoreSee Less